The Boy It Could Have Been
by suspense button presser
Summary: One drunken night changes everything
1. Chapter 1

She gracefully grabbed her coat, trying to mock me so with her ways. Her lips spoke these words "If you don't want to go you don't have to, I can go by myself; I don't have a problem with that."

I stared at her for a minute, but she didn't notice, then I started to speak "Ginny, you don't normally go to bars, besides, if this is just some reason to forget about him-"

"If you're going to be nagging me all night, I'd honestly rather you stay here" she said angrily, putting her coat on.

I didn't mean to get her upset, but I couldn't help but feel that this was all about her ex-boyfriend, Harry Potter. She had never really gotten over him; I thought to myself, _she is just trying to get him out of her mind, by drinking him away_.

She wouldn't be able to get home by herself, none the less be able to be make any clear decisions if she just as got her hand on one of those drinks.

"Fine, I'll go with you" I said with a twinge of regret.

0oxoxoxoxo0

She brought me to a muggle bar that was close to my house, and Ginny grabbed us a seat on the stools. I couldn't tell what she had ordered us, because I can't really pronounce the name, it seemed complicated. I saw that the bartender look at Ginny weirdly, before giving her the drink.

With one whiff of the thing I knew that it was really strong, but when I looked back to Ginny she had already downed the whole thing, giving me a questioning look, while licking her lips, "Aren't you going to drink it?"

I hadn't really ever had a drink, and neither had Ginny until just a few minutes ago, even though she could keep it down. "It's a little too strong for-"

She grabbed the drink from right in front of me and within twenty seconds, all she held was an empty glass.

"I don't think you should be doing this Ginny…" I started out, she turned to me to look me in the face as I spoke, I always liked how she did that when people talked, "If your brothers knew what you were doing…"

She staggered that little finger in my face and said "Hey, none of that. Besides, if you can't tell, my brothers certainly aren't here" then, she took her gorgeous, long, flaming red hair out of the ponytail that she use to have it in. Messing that hair, she looked at me skeptically, then disregarded it when a man with a microphone said "Hey. Hey, hey there, well tonight is a special night and we are glad that you joined us on this occasion. Tonight is a karaoke night and if you think you've got the right stuff, well then come on up here and show us what you can do"

"Ooooo!" I heard her squeal, "Let's do that!"

"Ginny… I don't think that's such a good idea…" but she had already gotten up to the microphone, how could I watch this? How could I sit there and watch Ginny get totally embarrassed in front of all of those people?

Shaking my head I looked away, not thinking that I would be able to contain myself, "Oh great oh great" I muttered, nearly hitting my head on the bar.

"This goes to a guy, who… who I use to date, but to be honest, he can go to hell for putting me through everything. Now_ hit_ it" I heard Ginny say, but how was I suppose to listen to this?

Ginny then wobbly stood singing a muggle song that I had never heard before. She had many drunk encouragers that gave her the confidence to belt out what I believed to be off-key notes. Occasionally throughout the song she would suggestively point at me and so all of the attention left from her and onto me. However, from what I could tell I highly doubted that the song had anything to do with me and everything to do with Harry.

I finally understood what this was all about, this was all about Harry, the drinking, and everything else was all about Harry, how could I have been so stupid? I mean seriously, I am obviously not her… No, what I am doing is not going on a date with Ginny Weasley, I'm not. I am just the sober friend that would stay sober all night and then, she could let all of this steam out, and she wouldn't do it ever again. Definitely not a date though.

When she sat back onto her stool, I asked her rather bluntly, "Was that about Harry?" her eyes slowly gazed up to mine, and then slowly, she nodded.

She dragged me out onto the dance floor, and then, I heard the song change, of course my fate, it had changed to a slow song. Wrapping her arms around my neck, she smiled widely, then she took my hands, and placed them gently onto her slowly moving hips. Slyly, she had gotten even closer to me, her breasts against my chest.

If you would have told me that I would be dancing that close to one of my best friend's sister, and that I had liked her for the longest time, I would have called you a fool. But there we were, dancing to a song that I had no idea what it was, our bodies touching, hardly any space between the rest of us. She held me, and I held onto her. How exactly I had gotten so lucky, I have no idea.

Many…. many… many drinks, that Ginny thought were alcohol but she was too drunk to notice that it was just orange juice, later…

I saw her dig into one of her pockets, and start pressing buttons. "What are you doing?"

She shhed me with her finger, and then I heard a voice on the other end "Hello?"

Ginny seemed annoyed with the person and how they had answered, who ever it was, even though she had called them. "Well, hello, you"

"_Ginny_? Where are you? It sounds really loud where ever it is"

"Where I am doesn't matter" she hiccupped and made a huge, unnecessary, involuntary move that made her almost jump out of her seat, but I caught her from falling. "But what does matter, is that I am going to have sex, and you can't stop me" she gave me a thumbs up, with a huge grin on her face.

I hit my head on the bar but before I did that I heard a very loud "WHAT?!"

Honestly, I didn't know who it was yet, so I had to ask her, "Ginny, who is that?

Then I heard Harry's loud voice on the other end of the line, "IS THAT NEVILLE?!"

Ginny disregarded my movements to hang up, and Harry's loud yelling, instead saying with a dreamy eyed look to her, "Hmm, that guy looks hot, maybe I'll sleep with him" giving another involuntary and totally unnecessary jerk of a hiccup.

I turned around to where she was pointing to, and then I told her "That's a coat rack Ginny…"

I heard Harry ask her if she was drunk, then with a little giggle she told him, "Maybe a little"

"Ginny, I'm going to take you home before you get Dean involved with this conversation too-"

"Ooo, how is he? I should call him later-"

"Ginny"

"I don't wanna go home" in the most whiney voice that she knew annoyed me so much. How could I take it? So I had to keep her on one subject, since through most of the night, she blurted absurd things that made either no sense or were very personal.

"How are you going to walk home if you can't even walk in a straight line?" I asked her, with one of my eyebrows raised.

"I'll have…" she stopped and pointed again "that guy take me home, he looks burly"

"That's still the coat rack…"

"Oooo! Look Neville, he has a twin!" She squealed, making several heads turn in our direction.

"That is still the coat rack Ginny" I said under my breath, hoping that she would do something that would make me take her home.

Ginny looked offended at what Harry had said next, and she said angrily "That's quite rude, I call you and all you want to do is talk to Neville. Are you two going out or something because that would be really weird…"

I took the phone from her and to be honest, I didn't really know how to talk to Harry at that point, so it came out weakly "Yeah?"

Harry made a hard coughing noise, and said "Take her home immediately; she hasn't had a hard drink before. Don't forget to make sure she gets in the door, and Neville…" he seemed lost for words all of the sudden.

"Er- yeah Harry?"

The coughing noise was louder than before, and he said quietly into the phone "…Keep her safe, 'kay? ... She means a whole lot."

He hung up the phone before I could ask him what he had meant by that, so with that, I stowed Ginny's phone in my pocket before she could notice. Throwing muggle money on the bar, I told Ginny that we should go. This time, I was surprised that she put up no fight whatsoever.

I had to carry Ginny the whole way back to my apartment, because she could barely stand up straight. We were almost there, and she said dazedly, "This isn't my apartment."

"Mine is closer, and since you're in no state to be apparating, you'll be staying on my couch." I told her, she just cuddled her head against my chest and asked, "So then where will you sleep?"

"In my bed, like I always do."

"Oh" she didn't speak the rest of the way, and when I had gotten up four flights of stairs, I unlocked my apartment and took her in. I set her on her feet, but she had other ideas, she staggered over to me, grabbed my shirt tightly, and kissed me on the lips. She continuously kissed me, and then I started to kiss back. Her lips tasted like alcohol and a sweet tasting candy, how one had gotten there, I had no idea, but I didn't want to stop to ask.

I quickly realized that she was untying my tie, so I tossed her jacket to the side, she was moving on to unbuttoning my shirt. I stopped kissing her, but she kept going, moving her lips down to kissing my neck. Was I taking advantage of Ginny by not stopping this from happening? I thought, "she isn't in her right mind, you can't let her do this," but the little Voldemort on my shoulder said that I should continue this, even go further. Voldemort, for once, had a great idea. The chemistry had been there all night, even before she had a few drinks.

Listening to the little Voldemort, I started kissing her again. My heart was pounding rapidly in my chest, as the lion within me purred like a kitten. I pulled down her skirt when she had thrown my belt across the room. Then I gently took off her shirt, making sure that I didn't break it.

She ran her smooth fingers through my hair, kissing me with her soft lips. Her body touching mine, only centimeters separated parts of us, her hot breath on my face. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her even closer. Without even removing her lips from mine she whispered, "You're good at that"

I wasn't going to say "Thanks, I do this all the time" because 1. I never had a girl fling herself at me, 2. I couldn't talk and kiss that the same time, and 3. If I tried to do 2 then I would probably ruin this amazing moment between two people.

Clothes were scattered all over the room, I was kissing Ginny Weasley, half naked, and I didn't know or think about what was going to happen next. How this had happened, Ginny hadn't completely gotten over her break up until that night, and I guess I was the lucky guy who just was there. Meaningless was one word to her that might describe this night, but to me, it was my happiest moment.

(A/N: Hi! I started this story back in 2008 and it went on hiatus in 2009. I wanted to edit it and make it better, so this is my first attempt :) please review)


	2. Chapter 2

**_Neville_**

The taste in my mouth that morning when I woke up, felt amazing, yet bitter all at the same time. Ginny Weasley lay next to me, snuggling close to me. Her arms were wrapped delicately around my waist. Last night was still on my mind. It had been… I don't know what it had been, but it was nothing short of bliss. Wishing that she would feel the same way, but then it crossed my mind… she was really, really drunk last night, and I should have stopped this from happening.

The little Voldemort on my shoulder was wrong, obviously I knew that now, but the temptation was almost unbearable last night. Would Ginny be mad at me when she woke up? Carefully, I took one of her hands and placed it by her side so that I could get out of bed and sneak over to the shower where I would finally wipe off all the guilt that I had from last night…

She wouldn't be mad, how could she? I mean… sure, I'd taken advantage of her, but she would have rather sleep with me than some stranger that she never knew before that night… or at least I would hope she thinks so.

She will one day thank me… maybe not in the near future, but when we're older… like rocking chair old, she'll lean over to me and say "I'm glad it was you" then we would go and live on our happy lives… if it be together or apart.

Sure, she had an ex-boyfriend that could kick anyone's ass, and sure she had five older brothers who never want to see their baby sister hurt, but the one thing that scared me most about Ginny was her own feelings.

Ginny Weasley was one complicated firecracker of a woman, always up for a good time, and to top that off she was an excellent Quidditch player. She played professionally for the Holyhead Harpies. I may have just been thinking about this to forget about her five brothers that could kill me, or the boy who can never die for that matter. I didn't mean that in a bad way, Harry's a great friend, but he just stinks worse than a dung bomb when it comes to women.

Accidentally touching the soap with my eye, I realized that it hurt to get soap in your eye and I had poked myself in the eye. Combining the two was never a good idea.

I didn't yell because I knew I had to keep quiet otherwise Ginny would wake up, and the longer I could delay that, the better off I would be.

Confronting Ginny was one of the things that I didn't want to do, mostly because: 1. I don't do well with confrontation, 2. it sucks when something goes wrong, and 3. it might ruin something that could or could not happen in the future. Then the thought ran through my mind… What if last night ruined my chances with ever having Ginny as anything more than just a friend?

**_Ginny_**

The sun rose to my eyesight. Waking up I realized I heard water running, a lawn mower, and a person chasing after a cat down the hallway. Then it hit me, I was in nothing but my knickers. Sitting up fast was not a good idea at all, it made me nauseous, but I wasn't going to throw up at whose ever apartment this was. I felt bad because for the life of me I could not remember who this guy was… had I even met him before in my life?

Already on the edge of the bed and with nearly half of my body was off; I looked around to figure out where I was. The water shut off, and I saw a lot of muggle plants scattered around the room, also, the rest of my clothes were lying all around his apartment. Then, to my horror, I saw, in a glass case, the gleaming sword of Godric Gryffindor. Muttering to myself "Oh Merlin, I slept with Neville!"

Everything came back to me in a flash, the close dancing, the horrible karaoke, the hard liquor, and what made my stomach squirm the most… me flinging myself at Neville like a pathetic loser who had no control over anything. I grabbed onto my head and thought to myself, what the hell have I done?

I saw the knob twitching on the door to outside the apartment, but thank god, it was locked. I threw on Neville's t-shirt in desperation, hoping to god that it wasn't any of my family… especially one of my over protective brothers, or my insane mother that worries about me too much. Although I wouldn't want my dad to see me like this either… what if it was someone from Hogwarts? Oh dear god, how the hell am I going to get out of here alive if I don't die from embarrassment enough. I NEVER ever do this type of thing, and I am hardly dressed, but thank god Neville's shirt was longer on me. Otherwise I would be in much trouble if it wasn't very long.

Could I answer the door? What was I going to say "Uh, Neville isn't here right now, but I could tell you what he was up to last night, if you couldn't tell already."

I unlocked the door and opened it slowly. As I was opening the door an older woman barged her way into the apartment, and she smiled widely at me. Neville's grandmother was staring at me, with me in her grandson's t-shirt… with my clothes scattered all over the rest of the room. Her huge smile didn't fade and she said "Hi, I'm AugustaLongbottom, Neville's grandmother, I vaguely remember meeting you from somewhere…" she put her hand on her chin and rubbed it softly, "Oh! You were one of Neville's friends from Hogwarts! You're a Weasley, no doubt, by your red hair and freckles."

I shook her hand and said sheepishly "Yes, I am a Weasley."

"Good, now where might my grandson be? I brought him some sweets, if I would have known that he had an old friend visiting, I would have brought more!" she said joyfully, but I shook my head "No, I'm fine, I was just actually leaving, I have to go to work soon." A lie, I didn't have to go to work since I am a Quidditch player and I don't have practice till the afternoon.

"Don't leave on my account dear, I'm only here to drop these off," She gave me a wise look and smiled even bigger "Besides, I'm sure that Neville doesn't want you to leave… considering…" I felt myself turning redder than I have ever been red in my entire life. I wasn't fully clothed, I was standing in Neville's t-shirt, in his apartment, with my clothes scattered all over the floor, and I was talking to his grandmother, who I had believed to be dead.

While she went into the kitchen to set things in order I put on my own clothes hurriedly, and when I just about done, Neville came out of the bathroom with wet hair and some dry clothes, so that he was clean. He smiled at me, and he noticed that I was still in his shirt, with mine in my hand. "You look good in it" he grinned.

Neville looked at me quizzically and I tried to nonchalantly point out that his elder grandmother was in his kitchen. He wasn't understanding so he asked, "Why are you so red?" I didn't need to speak, because by the look on Neville's face, his grandmother had come back into the room. "Oh Neville! Good, you're here now" she said, going over and kissing him on the cheek. He looked mortified that his grandmother still kissed him on the cheek, even if he was a grown man.

"I'm going to get going, but it was- uh, nice seeing you again Neville… it's been a while… um, well… Thanks for erm- well thanks for everything, it was fun." I extended my hand out to him and he took it, but looked at it lamely. Neville had such soft hands… I quickly let go and ran out of that apartment as fast as I could, going over to no where in particular, but just, out of there.

I went and changed into my own shirt in a bathroom, then in the bathroom, I apparated to the doorstep of my apartment.

Unlocking the door, I opened it to see Ron and Hermione having breakfast. I expected Hermione to be here… since she lives here, but why in the hell did Ron have to be here when I got back? I wanted girl time with Hermione to console me and tell me what to do without any of my overprotective brothers budding in.

I quickly threw Neville's shirt in the hamper, before Ron could see me carrying it, then he looked up at me questioningly, "Isn't that what you wore yesterday?"

"Uh," I looked down at my skirt, shirt, and coat and said fiercely "So what if I did?"

Hermione poked up her head now, ungluing herself from the daily prophet, with my head throbbing I didn't care if they were looking at me or not, I wanted something to cure this civil war within my head.

"Where have you been?" I sometimes loved my brother to death, but right now, I'd rather trade him for a cute, quiet, calm puppy.

I started to go through the cabinets, searching for advil or some kind of headache medication. "To be honest, I'd rather not tell you."

He raised his voice and implored me. "Where were you Ginny?"

"Would you stop yelling?" I cupped my hands around my ears because the effect it had on my ears made it unbearable. I could really use that puppy right about now.

"Are you hungover?!" he asked me, disbelieving. Now I'd take any kind of puppy over Ron, "Stop yelling" I told him.

Hermione asked a little bit softer, "So, where have you been the past twelve hours?"

"Drinking, and then I went to Neville's apartment with him-" but before I could finish my sentence Ron's face showed his rage.

"What in Godric's name were you doing with Neville Longbottom?!" The more he shouted, the more I wanted to lie to him, so I did.

"Hey you huge prat, it was nothing, I slept on his couch last night and I came back this morning, I couldn't apparate, not even side apparate I was just that wasted…" I told him, wanting the puppy so badly right now, then I turned to Hermione and asked her "Do you know where we put the damn asprin or advil or what ever it was? Or do you know a spell?"

With a flick of Hermione's wand my headache was improved and almost gone. "Thanks Hermione" I smiled. She walked past me and whispered into my ear, "You might not want to step near Ron or he'll know you did more than just sleep on his couch." Hermione had known, since I had stepped into the room, that smart girl knew. But how could she have been so smart? Books were her thing, not very drunken nights.

Ron opened his big mouth again only this time to tell me something… "Harry called last night, wondering if you were home or not. He sounded pretty worried about you-"

I had completely forgotten about Harry… Oh no, the phone call… Oh no, what was I going to do about Harry?! Wait, why did I care so much about what Harry did or Harry thought? Why should I care?

"Dammit Ron, why in Merlin's pants did you have to go telling me that?" I grabbed onto my head tightly and muttered "Uhh… I would've been completely satisfied not knowing that the Golden Boy wanted to know if I got home safely."

"Hey, don't go barking at me just because I told you that he called last night. He was worried about you, wait, why was he worried about you?" When was my puppy coming, I'd much rather have that to take care of instead of this baby.

"I called him last night" I told them, this time it was the truth, "And I think you should ask Harry as to why he was worried about me. Only heaven knows as to why that git was worried about me… maybe it was because I wanted to sleep with a coat rack to make him jealous."

"Oh no Ginny, was last night all about you being not over Harry, because that's not the right way to go about it" Hermione told me, but I interrupted her, and said "No, it wasn't all about Harry, I just needed to get away from everything for a while, I needed to get away from this guilt that's inside me. Mostly I need to get him out of my head… I think I'm going to shower." So I went into the shower, to wash off all my stress and the events from last night.

When I came out, Ron had left, thankfully, and Hermione sat on the couch with Neville's t-shirt in hand. "This is what; a token of the one crazy night that you had?" Hermione asked with a smile, then she threw it at my face. I breathed in a deep breath… It didn't smell bad, it smelled really good actually. Neville smelled like Droobles Blowing Gum and mint.

I told her everything that I could remember, and then I waited for her reaction. To my surprise, she started laughing hysterically. "Thanks" I told her, looking sheepishly, "I also might find this amusing… in a few hundred years."

Hermione put her sisterly advice into play and told me what I should do, after she laughed more about Neville's grandmother bringing him cookies at seven thirty in the morning on a Tuesday, the one day when I was there.

"So what did you say to him when you left?"

"I think I actually used the words 'it was fun' somewhere along the line," I told her, now noticing that it was the worst thing that I could have possibly said after… well doing what I had done.

"Oh Ginny… you really need to be careful when you get drunk. Be thankful that it was Neville and not some freak that you don't even know." Hermione shook her head in what seemed to be disappointment. "But you've got to be careful, and you have to promise me that you won't go drinking again. Not anytime soon at least."

"Okay, I promise Hermione." I had no intention of getting that drunk ever again in my life, if my mother would ever find out that I had gotten that drunk in the first place, she'd turn me into burnt toast.

Then Hermione asked the dreaded question "So what was it like?"

I felt my face get feverishly hot, "Well. From what I can remember… it was really,_ really_ good." Hermione couldn't control herself and she fell off of the couch to literally fall on the floor laughing, at my dumb, mistake… and what a mistake it would turn out to be.

(A/N: 7/29/13- More edited chapters to come :) If you enjoyed it or thought that it could use some improvement let me know with a review :) thanks!)


	3. Chapter 3

The words "It was fun" rang in my head for over a month… she never called, never stopped by, and she never tried to contact me whatsoever… "This is solely my fault," I would mutter to myself when I was alone. She probably hated me and never wanted to speak to me for taking advantage of her.

Walking home from the Ministry made me feel so lonely on that October afternoon. The leaves were slowly changing colors by now, and I kept my hands in my pockets, muttering things to myself that no one else could hear.

Going up the four flights of stairs that I had to take everyday, I searched my pockets and no key… my wand was mistakenly in the flat… shit, I was locked out of my own apartment. Then I remembered the spare key under the welcome mat, but when I checked for it, the key wasn't there. Someone took my key! I twitched the knob on the door, and it opened as I quickly looked around the room.

There, on my couch, sat Ginny Weasley, in a baggy blue t-shirt, her comfortable jeans, and her lucky necklace that she loved. She sat cross legged and shoeless on my couch. Her once soft brown eyes didn't seem the same as they use to… her eyes had gone cold as the look of fear swept across her face. I cautiously closed the door behind me, and she took this chance to look up at me. What I saw as cold before turned to unease as she looked at my tie and not at my eyes. There was no smile across her lips, but a straight line. Observing closer I looked at Ginny and saw that she held onto the milk carton that I had bought just last night. She didn't bother to grab a cup or a mug out of the cabinets, so I assumed that she had been drinking directly from the carton.

She took a sip of my milk and said, "You really shouldn't leave your door unlocked, it's not safe" she told me, looking at what ever it was, I looked where she was looking, but it was just the wall behind me.

"I didn't leave it unlocked" I lied, but it was a lie that I didn't have to tell, because obviously she knew since she broke into my apartment.

"Yes you did" she told me, took a sip and wiped it off with her sleeve, "Oh, also, by the way, don't leave a key under the mat, everyone does that now and it would just be better to use Alohamora instead, less of a hassle" she didn't look me in the eyes, but she looked in my general direction… it was at least an improvement from staring into the lonely space of the world. "That's a good way to get all of your stuff to randomly disappear."

"Thanks for the info" I told her. I put my coat on the coat rack and I would have normally made a joke about it, but now did not seem to be the time.

"Anytime" she put the carton to her lips and drank more of my milk.

"So what have you been up to these past few weeks?" I asked her, but the question I really wanted to ask was, why are you on my couch at 2 in the afternoon, drinking my milk without a cup, and where are your shoes?

"Actually…" she struggled with choosing her words, she mumbled something to herself "I've been avoiding everyone lately" she opened up to me, finally looking into my eyes, then told me "I won't bite you if you sit down next to me."

I took the seat next to Ginny and I asked her "so what is the milk for?"

"Its good for you, do you want some?" When I got up close to Ginny, I could see the deep depression behind her eyes… She was hurting badly; I knew that I had something to do with her unhappiness… that was just the way that it normally worked.

I didn't know what to do, it was a simple question to some, but to me, there could be many things that could go wrong with this… 1. If I declined, then she might have an explosion of anger aimed at me for no apparent reason, 2. If I accepted how would I drink it, and 3. If I got a cup and accepted it, would she take it back and I'd look like an idiot?

My fate rest in the hands of Ginny's attitude, I said casually, "Sure" and she handed the milk carton over to me, into my hands, I took a gulp of it down, and then another before giving it back to her, she seemed slightly pleased, but her body language proved otherwise. She was hunched over, and cradling the milk while rocking back and fourth, back and fourth.

It was a little strange that Ginny had showed up at my apartment, but for the life of me, I could not figure out why she was sitting on my couch, cross legged, shoeless, and the bottoms of her feet were absolutely filthy now that I looked at them.

She opened her mouth, but didn't speak for several seconds, "I went biking…" she closed her mouth and opened it again, "And I almost got hit by a muggle driving." I knew that she was hiding behind something.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" I put my arm around her shoulders, but she just stared at my arm and looked like she would cry soon. I heard her murmuring "If only you knew…" but she looked away from me and wiped off her eyes, I put my other arm around her waist, and I gave her a reassuring squeeze, "You don't have to hide your emotions from me, it's fine… it must have been a scary experience" I told her, but we both knew that it wasn't the reason that she was emotional, but only she knew exactly why.

"It was, I just guess that I haven't been the same about these sort of things since…" her voice dropped, "Fred died" she talked to me as if we were in a crowd of people and she wanted no one budding in.

I had nothing to say to this, I didn't know anything about her brother's death, he was a Gryffindor and was quite funny at times… but nothing else really came to mind.

She clutched tighter onto the carton, I could see her white knuckles, she took twelve sips in the 18 minutes that we sat in the silent room. Ginny shoved the carton into my hands and stared at the same space that she had before, another fifteen minutes went by, and neither of us flinched. My lips finally became dry and I took a swig of milk while Ginny thought that this was the perfect time to talk again, and she asked this as if asking what the time was or what kind of weather it was like outside… "So… I'm pregnant."

Fortunately for the both of us, I had been looking forward so when I spit out all of that milk, it sprayed in front of me and not on her. She looked dazedly at where I had spewed all the milk and said in the same tone "You got good distance on that, oh by the way, did I mention that it is your baby?"

I dropped the carton onto the floor by accident, but I didn't have any nerve to clean it up. I just stared stupidly at Ginny… The contents of the container flooded all over my wooden flooring, but I hadn't the nerve to even glance at it. Ginny had tears in her eyes and she didn't take her eyes off of where she was looking, but she could see my expression out of the corner of her eye, that's why she was so visibly upset… and these words rang in my head as I sat there, staring at her…

_Ginny Weasley, the mother of my child…_

_(A/N: 7/29/13- Another chapter with a cliffhanging twist :) reviews are nice if you get the chance. Thanks!)_


	4. Chapter 4

His expression was unexpectant and then WHAM! He might as well have been hit by the Knight bus… That's what Neville's face looked like right about now. I looked away towards his bed, and stared at it, he didn't say anything, not a single word… forty-six minutes passed by and nothing was said. The milk was still on the floor and I couldn't seem him, but I had accidentally let out a few tears… Fred had always told me that crying was a sign of weakness, but he was wrong, you could also be the bravest person and fall, laughing your head off and cry from laughing so hard.

I never got to tell him that.

The clock said 5:08, I knew that I had to be to family dinner soon or I'd never hear the end of it at the next four or eighty family gatherings. This seemed more important than eating at the moment. Not the sitting in the silence part, but having the chance to say something part. I heard him moving a bit, and then he spoke, "D-Does anyone else know?" I turned my head to face his, our expressions matched in worry, "No" I answered quietly.

How could it be so hard to talk to Neville? Sometimes it was hard for me to stop talking to him, I would take that over this any day…

"S-So what do you want to do about… uh, it." Neville asked worriedly, looking from my stomach to my face.

"I was wondering what you had in mind… I want us to agree on one thing." I told him, Neville's face had never seemed so pale to me in my life, and it wasn't the lighting.

He looked into my eyes, as if searching for something, I don't know if he found it or not but he asked "Would it be horrible if I thought that we should keep… the baby?"

I had never been more relieved in my entire life, I wouldn't and couldn't let this child go to someone else, and I certainly was not about to go and "take care of it", so my only other option was to keep it… but how would this work?

"Not a horrible idea at all, but how would we make that work?" I asked him nervously tapping my fingers on my jeans that were almost too snug on me already.

He took my tapping hand and took it in his, he told me while gazing into my eyes, "We'll find a way. We will."

I don't know how we could do this, we certainly wouldn't have the kid go back and fourth from apartment to apartment, but I don't know what else to do… but Neville asked me this "Do you think that you would like to stay in my spare room?" his apartment was larger than mine and Hermione's, but I had never pictured raising a child in an apartment, and I never pictured it'd be with Neville… okay that is a lie but it was only twice.

"What would Hermione do?" I asked him, he had probably forgotten that I had a roommate, not that Hermione was a forgetful person, but she was never really mentioned when talking about my apartment with Neville.

"Well… uh, then do you even think we should live together or don't you think that'll work out?" He asked me, he squeezed my hand a little while asking the question.

"I think we should live together… yes, but I didn't imagine it being in an apartment" I told him, but I couldn't look at his face.

"You want to buy a house together?" he repeated

"Yes, with my… job that I can't do as of right now… but I have enough money from the previous seasons so that we can get any kind of house we like" I told him, it was true, I had more money than I needed to live out my life, and I wanted to find a way to spend it.

"I don't want you wasting all of your money on this" Neville said flatly, "I don't want to feel like a dead weight to you."

"Neville…" I looked at the clock and I was for sure late, "Don't think of yourself as that, if anything I feel like this is all my fault, you were just the friend that did the right thing and then got tempted to do something that you didn't want to do…"

"What do you mean by something I didn't want to do?" I knew he hadn't meant to say that, because his face got all red and for the first time in hours I saw him smile.

"So you've wanted to do it with me?" I asked him with a sly grin.

"I-I, uh…" he was done for; he couldn't go back on his words.

"I have to go for family dinner, but I'll be back later, to continue this," I told him. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and went to the door but he asked "So that's it, you're not going to tell me your reaction?!"

I turned around to smile at him and told him, "I'm not surprised, because the way you stared at me the whole night… and I wasn't that drunk Neville. I knew that you kept asking for Orange Juice."

Out the door I went and I felt my face get hot, I checked for muggles, and found none. I apparated from Neville's welcome mat to the doorstep of the Burrow. I didn't have to ring the doorbell, because my mother heard me apparate and opened the door widely. I looked like a mess. I was never taught to apparate correctly because I was taught by the Carrows. I quickly stood up and brushed myself off after having apparated straight on my arse. It wasn't until now that I had remembered that I didn't have any shoes on.

"Ginny! There you are, we've been worried about where you've gone to, it didn't say where you were on the clock…" she brushed me off more then gave me a hug and asked "Why don't you have shoes?"

I told her that I'd explain later and that now was not the time. Going into the house I saw everyone, and I mean everyone. Even my brother Charlie, who hated these types of family gatherings, but there he was, standing near the couch. "Charlie!" I screamed and ran to hug him, he quickly turned around at the voice, but I could tell he was just as glad to see me.

It felt so good to be secured in your big brother's arms like he had once done the day that he met you. He hugged me tight and I didn't want to let go of him, I had gone months without seeing him and it literally hurt my heart not to see him . "Good to see you too Gin" he told me, letting go.

"Don't do that to Ron though, he might fall over from being his twig like shape" called Bill from behind me. I turned around and there stood my oldest brother. I had always looked up to him, even after he married Phlegm, he was the one that I wrote to when I was ten and at the house with just mum and dad.

I gave him a quick hug and asked "So what are you doing here? I thought that Fleur would want you to be with her-" Then I saw her come down the stairs, her blonde hair flowing behind her scrunched up pug face.

"Hi Fleur" I said through gritted teeth, "'ElloGinerva" Bill wrapped me in his arms to restrain me from Phlegm and whispered in my ear, "Play nicely."

"I will if she does" I murmured back, and he let go of me.

Turning around I saw George and Ron, but I couldn't see Percy… was he late? He never was late for family dinners, ever. Not even work could keep him from family now, not since Fred died. "Mum, where is Percy?" I asked her as I went to Ron and George for hugs. She looked at me, and said "He's in the kitchen dear; I bet he didn't hear your fall."

My brothers always would tease me because I couldn't apparate correctly. Only Bill, George, and Ron laughed. "Am I the last one here then?" I asked her, but she shook her head, "No, your father is running a bit late… but the girls are all in the kitchen with Percy if you'd like to join them." I scowled at my mother. She was always trying to insinuate that I should be like them and get a husband, so that mine could talk with my brothers about Quidditch and the latest news as I go back centuries in time to the kitchen. To be fair to me, Ron and Hermione were only dating still. And Charlie wasn't married either.

"I think I'll just go wash up instead," I told mum, before going upstairs I heard Fleur whispered to Bill, "Ginerva has gotten bigger since I last saw her. No?"

I washed my hands slowly, hopefully dad would turn up in the time that I had washed my hands… but that was a false hope, I had to wash my face, arms, and feet before he came home, just to avoid any further questions.

Coming down the stairs I took a tumble. Seeing as I had not waited for my feet to completely dry. Bill, Fleur, Charlie, and Ron were all chuckling as George and mum helped me to my feet again. Mum casted an evil glare at the laughing hyenas to make them stop. Falling down a flight of stairs hadn't been my finest moment, but it wasn't my worst. Mum asked if I was alright, and I tried to shake her off, but she only clung to me more. I was fatigued from not sleeping well last night and from all the worrying this morning. It just hadn't been a good day for me.

My elbow started to bleed , so mum ran and got her wand. She started muttering incantations as the rest of the family just peered on. She asked me once more if I was okay, so I gave jer an unconvincing "Yeah, I'm alright."

When she didn't believe me, she was distracted by Dad who came back into the room from the kitchen. "Ginny! Good to finally see you!" Dad came over to hug me and give my forehead a kiss. He looked toward mum and asked, "What's the trouble Molly?"

"Ginny just had a slip is all," Mum said, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.

Hermione, Angelina, Audrey, and Percy all came out of the kitchen at the mention of my name. "Ginny!" Hermione squeaked and ran over to me, hugging me with a warm embrace. She looked me over once and asked, "What happened?"

"I just took a fall, nothing to worry about, mum fixed me up." I lied with ease. The rest of my body still ached from lack of sleep and taking the fall.

Mum still didn't seem convince so she asked one more time, "Does anything else hurt Ginny?"

"No mum, I'm fine, promise." I tried to make myself useful and keep busy, so I stood up and asked, "How many plates should I set up? 13?"

"How did you come up with 13?" Ron asked, trying to count on his fingers.

"Well, Dad, Mum, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fr-" my voice stopped before I could finish. I little pang hit my heart and it felt like a shot heard around the world. I covered my mouth and stood for a second before running into the kitchen.

No matter how many holidays or years passed by, Fred was still a huge part of my family. Whether he was there physically or not he had always been a part of my life. My feet were weak and my eyes started to well up. "I'm sorry." I whispered. "I'm so sorry."

The door to the kitchen sprung open and I didn't have the heart to look to see who it was. "Ginny?" a soft voice called. He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. "I miss him too." George spoke softly. "But he wouldn't want you to be sitting in the kitchen crying over a place at the table."

"It's just hard, to know that he's not here." I whimpered. "He would've liked to have been here… ya know. We would've played a trick on Charlie or he would have made side comments with me all night about Phlegm…"

George laughed at me and in a small voice he said, "We can still do that Ginny. Although he may not be here, we can still pull a prank on Charlie and I will make comments about Fleur to you all night if you want. Fred has always been my other half, so now he has to trust me to be a whole person."

I turned around and wrapped my arms so tightly around George that he almost couldn't breathe. I let out a laugh, "I don't think he'd appreciate you stealing his girl."

George let out an unrestrained laugh, "I asked him and he said that if he couldn't have Angelina that I was the next best thing."

We both grabbed six plates from the cabinets and took the appropriate amount of silverware. Setting the table we whipped out our wands and made the plates and silverware dance their way to their spots. Everyone sat down at their regular spots with mum and dad on each end of the table. George was on my right and Ron on my left. Fleur started off the conversation with talking about Beauxbatons and how her seester Gabrielle was going to graduate or had graduated already. George leaned to my side and whispered, "Can you understand a bloody word she is saying?"

We stiffened our laugh when we caught a glare from Bill, but politely laughed into our napkins after his glare was finished.

As always, mum had outdone herself with food. There was more than enough food to go around for everyone to enjoy at least two if not three helpings. It was almost like a Hogwarts feast.

For the first half of dinner I remained silent and avoided conversation altogether. I was successful until Fleur started to ask me questions. "So, Ginerva," my face gave an involuntary cringe, "Are you dating an-zyone? Beecause I alwayzee thought that Harry Potter was still seengle." She brought him up… the one horrible mistake that I could never get out of my life. Ron sullenly looked at his peas, Bill looked uneasy, and Charlie was dumbfounded and confused at what Fleur was getting at.

I felt George put his hand on mine and he gave me a reassuring squeeze.

Dad didn't look up, but mum was looking nervously from me to Fleur and back and fourth.

"I wouldn't date Harry Potter again even if I were single" I said confidently, as Fleur's jaw dropped. It felt like I had finally won against her. I scooped up mashed potatoes onto my spoon, and shoved them into my face before any questions could be asked. "Ginny, you're dating?" my mother asked me excitedly, I knew it was her dream to marry off all of her children, but I didn't think that she would succeed with Charlie, he didn't seem to want to marry.

"Yes, I am" I shouldn't have done this just to beat Fleur, because now I had a lot of explaining to do…

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ron asked, and I noticed my father's head even come up from his food.

"You didn't need to know" I told him.

"But why didn't you tell us-" Hermione asked but Percy interrupted her.

"Forget about that, who is it?"

"Someone" I told him.

"Don't be so vague Ginny, tell us who it is or I'll hold you down while Bill and Charlie tickle you like when we were younger" Percy said.

"Percy, you aren't a very big threat to me, besides I don't think that he would appreciate if I tell you guys when we never talked about telling you this." I told them, as Ron looked over to Hermione, "Did you know about this?" he asked her.

"I had no idea." I hated the look of surprise and bewilderment on Hermione's face was the worst part about this, I had lied to all of them, I didn't know where I stood with Neville, and there was another person in this equation that only three people knew about.

Ron started up again with a mouth full of peas, "Gin, obviously Hermione would know if you had a boyfriend or not, she lives with you, so unless if you never had him at the apartment…"

"Who said I didn't ever go to his apartment?" I asked, purposefully not looking in Hermione's direction. "And who said that Hermione was there when I had him there, it was a good chance that she was over at your apartment snogging your face off." I didn't say it angrily, but in a dignified tone.

Hermione and Ron both turned red but he said, "That's not the point, the point is…" the phone rang, thankfully, and Ron had to go get it in the kitchen. Hermione followed him in and I was able to relax with ease.

But we know that lasted about three seconds. "Don't divert from the subject Ginerva, I want to know who you are dating and who you are dating right now."

A few minutes of them badgering questions at me stopped when we heard Hermione scream as she came out of the kitchen, her eyes gleaming with happiness, she came over and hugged me, I awkwardly hugged back, and then she shoved her left hand in front of my face to reveal a ring on her finger. Who the hell called to have Ron finally get the hint? Was it a lost cause hotline?

"Congratulations!" I squealed for her, and then she said these words "Ginny, I want you to be my maid of honor!"

As her best friend I would have liked to have been excited and honored to be Hermione's maid of honor. However, with the recent events of adding at least two more people into my crazy life, I felt enough stress as it was. Knowing Hermione she was going to want to plan everything. Every single thing and I would have to be there as a support throughout the entire process to make sure that she was making the right decisions. With all of this in mind, I turned back to reality and said, "Of course I will Hermione!" We jumped up and down together as Ron got congratulated by the rest of the family. Hermione gave me another squeeze and went over to my mum to show off her engagement ring. Ron came over to me and smiled. "Finally get the hint did you?" I joked.

He leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, "I know your secret; you don't have to lie to me anymore."

(A/N: 7/29/13- This chapter has had the most visible changes so far and I hope that you like it :) thanks!)


	5. Chapter 5

**_Ginny_**

_He leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, "I know your secret; you don't have to lie to me anymore."_

I turned to him, I tried to look casual, "W-What do you mean by that?"

"I know who you're dating Ginny, isn't it obvious? You're just lying to us all so that you can get mum off of your back." I sighed and told him another lie "That's exactly why, but how did you find out?"

"Ginny, you aren't that good of a liar" Ron smiled.

"No, I'm not" I said with a grin, because I was lying through my teeth without Ron suspecting a thing.

Hermione came back to me and Ron, her expression made me want to throw up, "Ginny, tomorrow morning can we go over some plans for the wedding?"

"Already?" My mother asked, as my mouth dropped.

"Well, Ron and I didn't want to have to wait that long, so we were thinking that we'd get married in three months" I dropped the glass in my hand, and I didn't care that I had shattered on the floor, "WHAT?!"

I couldn't help it from coming out, but the words just flew out.

Hermione looked at me confused, "What's the problem?"

My mother covered my mouth with her hand and she said, "Hermione, why don't you wait and see and sleep on the date, besides winter weddings are sometimes too cold and conditions are never good for people to travel."

Hermione agreed that they'd think about it, but I knew if I only had three months that I'd be hammered to the wall.

When dinner was finished I made an excuse to leave for home, my mother insisted that I stayed for dessert, but I refused to eat anymore.

Going into the apartment, I felt more alone than I have ever felt in my entire life.

When I got home I locked myself into the bathroom to puke. The nauseated feeling that I had in my stomach had been too much for me to bear. I purged in hopes that I wouldn't get morning sickness and so that I could sleep through the night. I changed into pajamas and brushed my teeth to gain a different taste in my mouth.

Hermione didn't come home for another three hours after that and by that time I was pretending to be asleep in my bed, just so I didn't have to talk about the wedding or her and Ron's relationship.

At four thirty my alarm went off, but I hadn't set my alarm, I had only really fallen asleep at three forty-five. "Wake up, lazy head! My wedding is drawing nearer and nearer!" Hermione cheered happily, while I groaned and hit the snooze button, but when it didn't snooze, I threw it up against the wall and shattered it into little pieces. "Ginny, what did you just do?" I put my pillow over my ears so that I could pretend to not hear her. "We aren't all professional Quidditch Players you know, some of us actually have to work during the winter, so get your little butt over here so we can talk about the wedding!" she said partly in a light tone, but about 80% of her was dead serious.

"Some of us don't even have to be at work till eight, which would be you, so I get three more hours of sleep" I pushed the pillow closer to my ear, but she yanked my pillow away and started hitting me with it. She stopped looking skeptically at the floor and asked, "Ginny, why do you have a bucket over here?"

"I told you, I've been sick lately, but I didn't want my mum worrying" I said irritated, lying did not come naturally to me.

"I knew that, but Ginny, that was a while ago, have you still been getting sick?" She asked me worriedly.

This time I didn't lie, "Most nights while you're off with Ron, I'm sitting here getting sick."

I didn't hear anything of the sort from Hermione and she said, "But you're always up before I am."

"Yeah, then I go to bed right after you go to work" I said then thought in my head "then I wake up and toss more cookies."

"Ginny, this isn't healthy" she said worriedly, I didn't want her to meddle into this because honestly, I'd rather have my mom know before Hermione and Ron knew and once Ron and Hermione knew, then everyone was bound to know.

"I've got it under control" I told her, but to be honest, the baby always craved healthy things that my normal taste buds hated, so I swallowed them down, quite reluctantly.

"No you don't Ginny, this isn't right, you've got to do something about this, it isn't very healthy and if your really as sick as you say-"

I cut her off before she could say anything about going to St. Mungo's, because I had already gone there; they said my baby was normal.

A normal health-conscious baby… great.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked her with my annoyance toleration about to be thrown out the window.

She looked at me in shock and said, "What do I mean by what?"

"You said 'If your really sick as you say-' it sounded like you didn't believe me." I told her, finally looking at her, to make matters worse; she turned the bright light on in the room and gave a little shriek, "Ginny, you're really pale!"

"Yeah, I normally am. It runs in the family if you haven't noticed…" I mumbled sarcastically.

"No, not like normal, you're really, really, really pale! Almost ghost-like." she said in a squeak. I had forgotten that I normally had to put a lot of make-up on to conceal how pale I really was from throwing up. I always had to wash it off before I went to bed so that it didn't get all over. How was I going to get out of my ocean of lies?

"That's what I get for throwing up Hermione." I told her, yanking my other pillow and blocking the bright light to get my face.

"Ginny, I'm taking you into St. Mungo's right now" she grabbed my hand but I yanked it back. My conscious got the better of me and I figured I should tell her the truth.

"Hermione, I lied to you last night" I told her, but then my mind jerk its decision and I added "I wasn't really asleep last night when you came in, and to be honest, I think I only got about… forty-five minutes of sleep since you woke me up." She didn't look surprised, but said in a weak voice, "Ginny, will you please go to St. Mungo's, please, I'm really worried about you."

"I bet they have worse cases there Hermione than mine" I told her.

"I'll take you after work, please Ginny; I can't stand to see you like this."

After thirty minutes of her begging, I finally said I would go with her after work. This meant that I had to tell mum and dad before she got home; this was bound to be a disaster.

I didn't care, but I fell asleep until after Hermione left and I got up at about 9:30. I smelled Hermione's microwave bacon that she had left for me, but the baby didn't want it. My heart went, awe, but I could live with a healthy baby. He or she made me have two bananas and a peanut butter bagel instead.

**_Neville_**

It didn't bother me that Ginny hadn't come back like she had said she would; it just worried me a little. She was all I could think about this morning, and last night. I couldn't buck up the courage to call her and ask her how she was doing, because 1. I didn't know what to say, 2. I'd look like a needy idiot for doing it, and 3. I had no reason to really call her besides asking her like a pathetic idiot, "Where were you?" and I didn't want to be _that_ guy.

I wondered what Ginny thought of me as, a friend, a drinking buddy, an acquaintance, her boyfriend, future husband? The one guy that I didn't want to be was: the guy who ruined her life by knocking her up.

This thought haunted my mind all morning, but I just sat and ate my coco puffs like any good man did. I also didn't have my shirt on because it was hotter than hell last night and I didn't feel like putting one on now, since I was comfortable.

I swished the chocolate milk in the bowl and then I stared at the milk carton… For twenty minutes I just stared at it. Suddenly I was woken up from my train of thought by a knock on the door. It was too early for Gran to have come, but maybe she got here early some how.

I opened the door to find Ginny Weasley staring blankly at my bare chest, a smile formed on her lips. Her eyes slowly found mine after a bit of staring. "Not expecting me were you?" She teased.

"N-No, I wasn't, but it's a pleasant surprise" I told her, and said she should come in. She did, and smiled a little more at my box of coco puffs. "What brings you over here?" I asked, now more than ever consciously aware that I was in a room with Ginny Weasley without a shirt.

"Well, I've come to tell you that Hermione and Ron are getting married." she held a false happiness in her smile and in her voice. "Congratulations to them, but why don't you seem so happy about that?"

She looked at me and told me, "I am now Hermione's Maid of Honor and she wants to have the wedding in three months, which more than likely means, I have to plan most of this with her. This also means I will have to do everything else for her."

"You didn't tell her did you," I said in a low voice, Ginny didn't have to tell me I was right because I knew that Hermione wouldn't have unloaded all of that pressure onto Ginny while she was also pregnant. Hermione just thought that Ginny would be happy to help her since she didn't have to work during the winter.

"No, I didn't" she told me in a weak voice, "but if I had I would have had to tell my whole family right then and there and I didn't want to… Even though now I have to tell my parents before Hermione goes and takes me to St. Mungo's after she gets done with work…" Ginny couldn't look in my eyes, but her eyes seemed fixated on the other side of the room.

"Do you want me to go with you?" I asked her. I knew it was the right thing to do, since this was mostly my fault, but I wanted to go with her. She looked up at me, "What?"

"I'll go with you, but only if you want me to…" she looked at me like I had said a very confusing word like 'proponent.'

"You would do that?" she asked quietly.

"Of course I would, I want to help you through all of this, even through the hard things, that's why I'm here." I told her, and I meant all of it too.

She looked close to tears as she grabbed me and hugged me tightly, "If only everyone were as great as you Neville." I wanted those words on a plaque; it'll be quoted one day.

"Thanks, but I just want you happy and healthy" she smiled and said "I don't think you have to worry about that, the baby's been making me eat only healthy foods for the past three weeks."

I laughed, "Maybe it's not a total bad thing telling your parents now is it."

"I guess not" she looked up at me, "thanks honey" she got onto her tip toes and kissed me lightly. I felt the butterflies in my stomach flitter all around.

"Anytime" I told her, and then the painful pang hit my stomach. I would never get to tell my parents the good news, well, they wouldn't understand if I did. The bright side to that was I could tell Gran, but I would never get to see their happy faces smiling at me in over joy… Maybe this was one of the reasons why I wanted to go with Ginny so badly, or it was just because I wanted to help her out.

"So when do you want to go and tell them the good news?" I asked her.

"Maybe in an hour or two"

All of the sudden it got quiet as the door knocked four times then the knob turned, Ginny let go of me and I went to go answer the door. Sure enough Gran had to ruin my time with Ginny, once again. "Neville, why on earth don't you have a shirt on?" she turned around to look at Ginny and smiled widely, "Ah, I see. Trying to impress the Quidditch  
star."

She let herself into my apartment and gave Ginny a very big hug, when she was done she put her arms on Ginny's shoulders and stood back for a little bit while eyeing her out. I saw her smile grow even wider, "Neville, how come you never told me that I was going to be a great grandmother?" she asked, turning around to face me.

The one thing going through my mind was: WHAT THE HELL? HOW DID SHE KNOW?

"U-Uh… How do you figure that?" I asked her.

"Oh Neville, I'm not that naïve. She's glowing, she had a huge smile on her face even if she is extremely pale, she was a lot thinner the last time that we spoke, and she looks exactly like your mother before your dad and her told your grandpa and me." Ginny smiled at me, half guiltily, and half proud. One less person that we had to tell and she seemed to have taken it very well.

"I was worried about you Neville, I thought for years that I wasn't ever going to get to see my great grandchild, but now I do!" She and Ginny laughed a little bit as I stared with great interest at the floor.

"Dear, have you been eating healthy?" she asked Ginny, I tried to get Gran to stop, but she swatted me away with her hand. "Yeah, I have, the baby craves only healthy food."

"Good, good, just like Alice did." I saw Ginny smile at me; her chocolate eyes were glistening with happy tears.

"Now when are you two getting married?"

Ginny looked petrified from Gran at looked at me for an answer. "We haven't really talked about that much yet Gran. We just found out yesterday…"

She spun around to face me, "Don't tell me that my great granddaughter or great grandson is going to be a bastard."

Ginny's smile quickly faded, as I turned to my Gran, "We never discussed marriage."

"You haven't discussed it?!" Gran repeated irritated, "For Godric's sake you two are having a baby and you aren't getting married! What would your parents think young lady? Haven't you told them yet? Won't they be disappointed?"

"Gran, you are in no right to be talking to Ginny like that!" My voice had come out stronger than I had intended it. Both women quickly turned their attention to me. "Ginny is to be treated with respect. She has done nothing but be gracious to you, so I expect nothing less from you." I felt like it was my duty to stand up for Ginny, even if it was against Gran.

"Neville, you should have proposed! You don't just go getting girls pregnant then leave them the next morning!"

"I'm not leaving anywhere Gran, I could have run before but I didn't, I'm still here aren't I?" I could feel my words getting flustered, "I'm not leaving Ginny to do this all by herself; besides we were already talking about getting a house together." I told her with confidence and Ginny's smile reformed a little.

"Neville, I have no doubt that you will be a great father, but the thing is that a baby needs both parents, and the only way to stay that way is if they get married." She said a little more calmly.

"Just because Ginny is pregnant doesn't mean that we have to get married, who said we want to anyways?_ If_ we do it's _our_ decision!" Just as easily as the words had slipped from my tongue Ginny got up and slipped out the door. A fatal _"pop"_ sounded behind the door.

I looked at Gran angrily and said "Thanks a whole lot for nothing."

"Neville, things in life are worth waiting for, and that girl is one of them. The circumstances are bad, I know, but you've got to let her cool down before you go and talk to her. Getting a ring isn't the worst idea either." She gave me a wink and left my apartment, leaving her cookies on the couch.

I plunked myself onto a chair and thought for several hours what I was going to do, what I was going to tell her. Then I saw that it was eight thirty when my phone rang, I picked up and asked, "Hello?"

"Hi Neville" Hermione Granger's voice came on the other end.

"Hi, what can I do for you?" It was odd because I hadn't talked to Hermione for over two years outside of a occasional hello at the Ministry.

"Do you know where Ginny is? Because she isn't here, she isn't at the burrow, she isn't with Ron, Harry, or Luna-" I cut her off and asked "Why would she be with Harry?"

Hermione didn't say anything for a minute and then replied "I just called him in case she was, but is she with you or have you seen her at all today? Because her phone is dead and she left me a note but I can't make anything of it"

"What did the note say?" I asked, ignoring her questions.

"It just says, 'heart… beating… faster… stop… turn time back' I don't know what it means" She said, I could hear her pacing through her apartment. "But I was going to take her to St. Mungo's today and I bet that's why she isn't here… but I've tried everywhere, George and Charlie haven't seen her, Bill and Fleur have been looking but nothing so far, and Ron is also out looking but nothing."

"Hermione, I think there is a big piece of the puzzle that you're missing" I told her. "Ginny came over to my flat today and she was over here yesterday. She came over to tell me some rather big news. Now I know that she would rather tell you, but since you can't seem to find her I think it would be best if I tell you now… Ginny is pregnant."

I had let out Ginny's secret, well, partly mine too, but Hermione was a blabber so not before long till everyone knew, but Ginny wasn't being found so it was just something that I had to do. "_What?! Why would she come over to tell you before she told-"_ Hermione stopped and dropped the phone. There was a popping noise and Hermione Granger stood in my living room. Her face exasperated, "You and Ginny…?"

I gave her a short nod of the head and she fell into the chair closest to her. "I can't believe it… You and Ginny… are having a… I never would have thought in my life that you and her…" The frizzy haired woman covered her mouth with her hands. "That's why she's been so sick these past few weeks. That's why she came home in your t-shirt. That's why she freaked out when I offered to take her to St. Mungo's…" The brown haired woman looked nearly broken down. "I can't believe she didn't tell me."

I tried to cheer her up by saying, "If it makes you feel any better she just told me yesterday."

Hermione gave a stiff laugh and then looked up at me, "How are you handling all of this?"

"Honestly Hermione? I'm excited, but I'm afraid that I completely messed it up with Ginny tonight. My Gran came over and started pressuring us to get married and I said something a little rash." I fell into the couch seat closest to Hermione, who had her eyes directly on mine. "I don't think she'll ever forgive me."

"She will. You just have to have faith that she will." She put a reassuring hand on my knee and smiled, "But I'm not so certain that her brothers will."

"Are they going to kill me?"

"I wouldn't doubt that you get at least one bat bogey hex or a Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes product. But that's all a part of becoming one of the family."

**_Ginny_**

I stared at the name "Fred Weasley" as the rain poured hard onto my face. Just below that, it said "April 1st 1978 - May 2nd 1998."

I told him everything even if he couldn't hear it. I poured everything out that was bothering me. Even with my soaked clothes clinging to me. I was hit hard when he had died… I found out as his body was being carried into the Great Hall by a crying Seamus Finnigan and an inconsolable Oliver Wood. I had collapsed onto Luna and I had lost all control. That was the part of my life when I felt that nothing was worth living for anymore.

Sitting in the rain, my silent tears kept on flowing down my face. Then I heard footsteps behind me, shoes meeting the puddles, they walked slowly. Not even worrying about them seeing me; I kept on crying.

Their warm hand was placed onto my shoulder, "Ginny, come on, lets get you somewhere dry."

"I'm not leaving" my voice cracked.

"Come on Ginny, it's already eleven thirty-four and it seems like you've been here for over twelve hours" the voice told me.

"I'm not leaving him" I told the voice coldly.

"Don't do this now Ginny, you have to go, he'd understand, you know Fred." The voice told me.

I looked at my brother's tombstone and I remembered his dead face, smiling at me.

The wind picked up and started to blow harder. "Ginny please don't do this to yourself, you're going to get a cold and then you'll get sick. Now please Ginny come with me. I know you hate me and all, but can't you put that aside for a minute or three and talk to me about why you weren't at your apartment?" Harry's voice asked me.

"I wasn't at my apartment because I was here" I told him flatly, "Now can you leave, you're being very insensitive right now."

His voice didn't get stern, but he said, "Ginny please, I'm asking you as a friend."

"Oh, of course" I spat out distainfully, "Friends, but never more than that."

"Ginny… please"

"Don't you dare call me a _friend_ Harry Potter" I snapped, "we were _never_ friends and we will never be friends." I could feel him coming closer to me instead of backing away.

Getting onto his knees and to my level Harry pleaded, "I'm begging you Ginny just for you to talk to me and go some place dry so that you don't get sick."

"Eat slugs Potter."

My heart ached. I knew that Harry and I were through and that he would never come back to me, but every time he came around there was always a glimmer of hope in my heart. This time would be the last that I felt that glimmer. "C'mon Ginny, don't be like this…"

My emotions swept over me like they never have before. My heart could take it no longer and my soul had broken into millions of pieces that it could not be repaired. "Don't you have another damsel to save? I am not the same first year girl that you have to save from Tom Riddle. I am not the same 15 year old girl that you had to break up with because of Voldemort. I am the woman that is trying to have a conversation with her brother and would like to be left_ alone_."

"Ginny… please."

"_Piss off Potter_."

(A/N: 7/29/13- Hopefully you are enjoying the story and hopefully I can get to start writing the new chapters! Thanks!)


	6. Chapter 6

**_Harry_**

_"Ginny…please."_

_"Piss off Potter."_

Ginny's stone cold body could be seen shivering even through her clothes. She was sopping wet and as far as her knees was covered in a thick layer of mud. Her head hung low as if she were ashamed of something. Not even when I ended our relationship did Ginny cry. Out of her entire family, I had always believed that Ginny was the strongest.

On my knees sitting next to her, I daringly looked at her face. Her face had matured and her freckles had faded ever so slightly. All of the color had drained from her face and placed in her hair. Her chocolate eyes were bloodshot and tired from all the sobbing. She placed her face in her hands and curled inwardly.

As much as I knew that Ginny needed help, I knew that I was not the person to give her the help she so desperately needed.

I stood up and walked a few steps, enough to be out of earshot, but close enough to keep an eye on her.

Fumbling within my pocket I found my wand and gripped it tightly.

"Expecto Patronum to Ronald Weasley: Found Ginny. She's with Fred. Back-up appreciated." Soon my stag turned into a ball of light that shot off in the distance. When I looked back toward Ginny she was tracing her hand over Fred's name, almost entranced by it. I walked back slowly toward her.

She stiffened as she heard my footsteps. "Go _away,_" she mumbled.

"Will you at least tell me what you're doing out here in the middle of the night? You know it's not safe out here especially to be alone." I tried to reason with her, but she only snarled back. "You would make this about my safety. That seems to be your excuse for everything these days."

"Gin, you know it's not-"

"Do not call me that." For the first time in over a year Ginny looked up at me. She looked straight into my soul and it was a dark glare. Her eyes were fiercer than I had ever imagined seeing them.

Over the rain I could hear a quiet popping sound. Ginny turned her glance back to the stone, but I turned to see Ron climbing up the hill toward us.

He briskly walked toward me and immediately fell to his knees, clinging to his sister. He straightened her up and looked her in the eyes, "Don't you ever dare scare me like that again. You hear?"

Ginny slowly nodded as Ron took her back in his embrace. Ron looked up at me and gave me a thankful nod. I returned his nod and left the three of them to talk.

**_Ron_**

George and I anxiously waited in the shop, waiting for a phone to ring or for anyone to show up. Soon enough a stag Patronus came galloping through the wall. _"Found Ginny. She's with Fred. Back-up appreciated_." The light quickly went out of the room. I looked at the mess which was George, his hair was going in every direction and he looked as though he has had a major stroke. George buried his head in the counter and started to repeatedly hit his head. "Why didn't we think to check there?"

"Would you like to go or should I go and you call everyone?" I asked, knowing how he would answer.

"You go and I'll stay and call everyone," George let out a heavy sigh, "I can't bear to go there."

I gave an understanding nod and pocketed my wand. "I'll be back." I mumbled and apparated to the graveyard.

I had never liked being in graveyards. It wasn't a fond hobby of mine. As I climbed up the hill I saw two shadows. I assumed the bigger one on the right was Harry and the latter was Ginny. I darted through the rain and mud as fast as I could. When I reached them I could do nothing put fall to my knees to look Ginny squarely in the face to say, "Don't you ever dare scare me like that again. You hear?"

She nodded in agreement and my baby sister fell into my arms, sobbing. I mournfully looked at Harry and gave him a nod of thanks. He turned the nod and walked away to apparate.

"I'm sorry." Ginny mumbled. "I normally come here when I don't know where else to go, but I couldn't pick myself up to leave. I don't want him to be alone."

I tried to wipe away the tears, but then rain fell on her face so it became a battle to keep her face dry. "You know that he is never alone Ginny. He's got Mad Eye, Lupin, Tonks, Harry's parents, and a whole lot of other people to play jokes on. Besides, you don't really think that he would leave you here without playing a few pranks on you from where he is. He's got to be pulling your leg or is planning something really big."

She forced a laugh, but I could tell that she appreciated it none the less.

"I think he's pulling the biggest prank yet on the entire family," Ginny whispered, her head facing down. "Ron, I've got to tell you something, and I don't want you to get mad."

**_Ginny_**

"Ron, I've got to tell you something, and I don't want you to get mad." His hair was now as damp as mine and his knees were covered in mud.

"Ginny, whatever you have to say, you can tell me. I'm your big brother and that means that you can tell me absolutely anything."

I didn't know any other way to tell him, so I said, "I won't be able to play Quidditch next season."

He was taken aback by what I had to say. He obviously wasn't expecting it. "Are they kicking you off the team? Did you break your wrist? Are they making you the head coach? Are you-" Ron's face went pale and he looked at me imploringly. "Ginny… you aren't…"

"I'm sorry Ron. I'm so sorry." I tried to cover my face, but he took my hands.

"I'm not."

"What?"

"I'm not sorry that you're…" as much as he could accept it, he still couldn't manage to make out the words, "having a baby."

"You're not?" I asked, looking at him straight in the eyes.

"No, I'm not. Sure, I would have rather you waited until you were married in your late thirties, but I guess now could work too." He gave an encouraging smile, "As long as this guy loves you and you love him. I don't have a problem."

I gave Ron the hardest hug and said, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Don't think that because I'm not asking that I'm not interested to see who this bloke is." Ron gave a shifty, but stern smile. "Who is he?"

"Well… you know him."

"Oh for the love of Merlin please tell me it's not-"

"Not Harry."

"Dean?"

"No."

Ron took about twenty more guesses until he came to the right assumption.

"Neville?" Ron had thrown the name out there, but by the reaction on his face he surely did not expect to be right.

"Neville Longbottom?" I nodded my head and the look on Ron's face was priceless. "Who knew that Longbottom had fast swimmers?"

"Ron!" I exclaimed, punching him in the shoulder.

"Ow! I'm sorry, but I'm honestly surprised at Neville's ability to reproduce!" Ron rubbed his shoulder to ease the pain. "Have you told him yet?"

I nodded plainly, and added, "We talked yesterday and today. It's kind of the reason why I wanted to talk to Fred."

Ron rustled his hand through his hair and gave me a brotherly look, "I'm freezing my bullocks out here; can we go somewhere warm?" I gave a laugh and agreed to go someplace warm.

We said our goodbyes to Fred and told him that we would visit again soon, and if we didn't that he would have authority to play pranks on us. As we left, I felt a little pang in my heart, but this time I knew it was Fred, letting me know that he was always with me.

(A/N: 7/30/13- Happy Birthday to Neville Longbottom :)! Horray! Thanks for reading and review if you'd like!)


	7. Chapter 7

**_Ron_**

"Hold on Ginny." With that we were being sucked through a tube and landed on the street of Diagon Alley, just outside the joke shop. Ginny took a few seconds to regain herself, but then we marched up the steps and knocked on the front door. We heard feet flying down the stairs and a friendly face opened up the door. "Ginny!" George gapped as he showed us through the door. As soon as we stepped inside, George took ahold of Ginny and looked as though he was never going to let go. She buried her face in his chest and he cradled her reassuringly as if to tell her everything would be alright.

They stayed like this for a long time, until Ginny gave George a tap on the back to signal that she would be okay. George finally got a good look at the both of us and said, "You two look terrible and I'm the one with one ear."

Ginny laughed and joked, "I've been sick and in the rain, so what's Ron's excuse?" George joined in the laughter, but I was just happy to know that Ginny was safe and sound.

After turning on the light I could see how badly Ginny had been affected. She certainly didn't look much like my sister: her face was death white, her eyes were bloodshot, and she was soaked from the top of her head to the bottom of her shoes. There were three ways that I could recognize my sister standing in front of me: her hair, her freckles, and her smile.

"Let's get you both some dry clothes and something to eat. You must be starving Ginny." George hurriedly pushed us up the stairs and into his apartment that he shared with Angelina, "Angelina is with her parents in Spain. So I'm glad to have company over." He scrounged through his drawers to try and find something small enough to fit Ginny and something tall enough to fit me. Finally he found Ginny something and handed me one of his larger t-shirts "Don't stretch it out, or I'll have to get you back."

Ginny ran and took the bathroom, so I was forced to go in the corner to change.

**_Ginny_**

George always knew how to make me smile and even when it seemed like everything was going wrong, he would tell me everything that was going right. I changed into my brother's oversized clothes, but I didn't mind because they were extremely comfortable. I came out in George's dry oversized clothes and both of my brothers started smiling at me. "I'm only doing this just for you."

"It's brilliant" Ron piped, admiring the Chuddley Canons shirt that I was sporting.

"Cruel and unusual punishment is more like it," I teased. I didn't feel like I was being punished, but I did feel a little bit like I was being babysat.

"C'mon Ginny, I've got stew heating up and some bread reheating." I looked at George surprised, was he making a 'bun in the oven' joke or was he really reheating bread?

"I don't know if I can eat. I mean, I'm hungry enough, but I haven't been able to keep anything down lately." I ignored the side glance from Ron and looked directly at George. He paused for a moment and held a finger to me to say, "Wait a minute." After a few seconds of searching George cheerily put a sealed bottle on the table.

"What's that?" I asked, looking at it curiously.

"It's an anti-nausea potion. I've found it comes in handy if you've eaten half a puking pastille and can't find the purple half." George said, "It happens all too often that people start and then they can't manage to stop."

"So this means I won't throw up?" I asked incredulously, looking the bottle over for side effects.

"Precisely, at least not if you take it with your meal. It doesn't help much after you've spilled your guts out." George was always a poet when it came to vomit.

We began and finished our meal with a rather lengthy conversation about Quidditch and the joke shop. I felt full, content, and overly exhausted from the day I had. I felt that I owed it to George to tell him. I had wanted to tell mum and dad first, but it only seemed right to tell him.

"Alright Ginny, off to bed. We all need to get some rest before the big day tomorrow." I wanted nothing to do with any day that was big and George was not going to get me to go along with his plan.

"I'll just sleep on the couch…"

"No, no, no." George fussed, "my sister is going to take the big bed. You're exhausted and Ron and I can take the pullout couch."

I was too tired to argue with him so I told him thanks and climbed into the bed. He turned out the lights, but the door was left slightly open. Closed enough to be comfortable, but open enough for Ron and George to poke their heads in once or twice.

I closed my eyes and heard the pounding of numbers onto a phone. George's voice said, "She's here and so is Ron."

Apparently someone liked to keep tabs on me. I couldn't tell if I was offended or touched that someone cared enough to be called at one o clock in the morning for me.

"Yeah, I know, we were all worried Hermione." He told her in a patient tone, "She's sleeping right now Hermione; she had a really tough day."

"I know you want to talk to her, but you can't right now, it looks like she hasn't slept in years and she got her soul sucked out by a dementor. She's in good hands Hermione. I promise." George tried reassuring her.

"Harry found her," his voice broke for a second, "with Fred."

I could hear Ron fidget nervously in his seat, "No, I didn't ask her any questions." George told her rather flatly.

"Because Hermione, you didn't see how miserable she looked, I want her to know that she at least has some family behind her on this. I only have got one baby sister and I'm not letting her go."

George stopped to wait for Hermione to stop talking, "I don't know that much about the situation, but when Ginny wants to tell me, she will, but right now she isn't and I'm not going to push her for answers."

I didn't have the heart to listen to the rest of the conversation, but he was right, and it felt really good to know that I at least had one person to lean back on; even if it isn't Neville.

It hadn't occurred to me until just now how tired I really was. I had to remember to thank George for sticking up for me, and he was close on my favorite brother chart. I loved them all sure, but some were just not as tolerable as others. Percy. But I slowly closed my eyes, opened them again, and then shut them tightly. I mumbled to myself "You have a lot of explaining to do tomorrow, but you don't have to deal with that till tomorrow, right now, you can sleep."

My whole body relaxed and eased into a wonderful sleep.

(A/N: 7/30/13- The chapters from now on will be more original writing, as opposed to edits from the earlier edition. Thanks much!)


	8. Chapter 8

My body seized on the cold tile of my brother's bathroom floor. I had struggled to keep everything back, but it all came out. I hugged on tightly to the seat and sat on the floor with my head in the bowl. "Ginny?" George swung the door open to reveal my shaking body. He repeated saying my name, but in more worried tones as time progressed. He seemed to be saying my name not for me, but for him.

As much as I felt like crying, I held back the tears as best as I could. George kept on trying to talk to me, but I wasn't paying attention to what he was saying. His words were mumbled as my head leaned farther into the bowl. Ron's feet came to the edge of the bathroom door. I looked up at his pale face and that was all I needed to break down crying. My emotions were all out of sorts and this was just one of the glamorous things about being pregnant.

"I'm sorry" I told George, tears falling from my cheeks; he came and put his arms around me securely, like all my brothers did. "I'm sorry" I repeated.

"Ginny, what happened? You took the potion I gave you, right?" he asked me, in a whisper.

I shook my head, "I thought it was going to work." I moaned, my stomach became very uneasy and it didn't help to have an audience.

George asked Ron to go get the bottle. Ron handed it to George and he started to look on the side of the bottle. His finger ran down the side until he came to the middle of the bottle. He stared and looked at the same line for a few minutes. George turned quiet. He glanced over at me and held up the line of the bottle of which he was reading,

… _potion does not prevent morning sickness…_ George's eyes darted from Ron to me hoping that one of us was just pulling his leg.

This was one of the few times that I had seen my brother shocked speechless. He rubbed his hand over his mouth and then ran his fingers through his morning hair. Out of all of my brothers, I was most concerned about what George thought. He had always been there for me, so I hoped that when I was in the biggest amount of trouble that I had ever been he would help me out.

"Don't be mad." I cried, trying to turn my attention to George, "please don't be mad. I don't think I could bear you being mad at me." Shock swept over my older brother's face as he stared at me, still kind. Then my blotchy red face looked up to see Ron, standing in the doorway, with his understanding smile.

"Ginny. I'm not mad. I think we're all just worried about you." George came closer to me and wrapped his arms around me. One of his hands pulled my head close to his chest. "No, my baby sister is going to be taken care of, and I'm going to do that to the best of my abilities," he told me in a whisper. Then I heard him under his breath, "even without my better half."

**_Neville_**

I hadn't slept all night. Despite my best efforts of searching for Ginny I couldn't find her. Returning up four floors, I unlocked my door and let myself in my apartment. I tossed the keys on the table and nearly knocked over a chair when I saw Hermione Granger in my living room.

"How long have you been here-"

"They found her." Hermione said plainly. "She's at George's apartment right now with him and Ron."

"Where did they find her?" I asked, taking off my jacket and not bothering to put it on the coat rack.

"Harry found her with Fred." Her voice trailed off toward the end.

We sat in a semi-uncomfortable silence. Why had Harry Potter been the one that was able to find her. Why wasn't I capable of finding her? I hadn't even thought about going to find her there… "Harry was just trying to help, you know." Hermione offered, "I heard that Ginny shrugged him off and waited till Ron got there to talk to anyone."

"I'm just glad that she's safe." Hermione could tell the sincerity in my voice. She was starting to understand how much Ginny truly meant to me. Not Ginny- the mother of my child, but Ginny- the girl who I always had feelings for.

"Where have you been?"

I had been hoping that this question wouldn't come up. I personally didn't want to tell Hermione Granger where I had been for the past few hours and it certainly seemed like it wasn't any of her business. At this point I didn't have the heart to fully lie, so I told her, "I was with Gran. She was worried about Ginny, so I hung out with her a bit this morning." This was the truth, but it wasn't the entire truth.

Hermione looked at me with satisfaction and got to her feet. "Well, I guess I just came over to tell you that we found Ginny and that she's safe."

"Thanks Hermione, I really do appreciate it." I led her out the door and we said our goodbyes. Once the door closed, I took the gum wrapper out of my pocket and placed it in a wooden box by the window. "Thanks Mum" I mumbled.

**_Ginny_**

"Verity took the day off today, she's in South Africa on Safari with her new husband" George told me, throwing an apron to me, "So you get register."

I was glad that George could give me a distraction. Although late October was not the most lucrative time of the year; the shop was still bustling with customers all getting ready for was slower than in the summers, but it was still packed with customers for a Thursday. Ron continued to be a real baby and wouldn't let me help him carry anything. He would say in a low tone, "it's not good for your health."

Mum, Hermione, and Harry had all come at the best times. Because I wasn't in the shop then, I was upstairs still getting my morning sickness and I had Ron take over my spot for a while. When I came back downstairs, I could tell that Ron had wanted so badly to comment about Harry, but he kept it inside him.

We finally closed up shop at seven and went upstairs to celebrate a good day of work. Ron and George made a pizza, but I picked off all of the excess junk they put on. "You're taking off all the good stuff!" Ron exclaimed, taking all of the extra toppings off of my plate.

We tried to have a normal conversation until Ron decided it was time for me to tell George who the father was. "C'mon Ginny, he can't be _that bad_. As long as it's not Harry's." George's face turned quite stern and I brushed it off. "No, not Harry."

George went through my list of friends in his mind. "Neville?"

"How did you get to that conclusion so fast?!" Ron asked, wondering why he hadn't come to the same conclusion sooner.

"Longbottom?" George asked again, looking only at me. My face told him and he said, "Well. Your kid is going to have to be really awesome to make up for the last name Longbottom."

George and Ron took the news better than I had ever expected them too. They were going to be the really big confidence boost that I needed before telling mum and dad. "Thanks guys. I should probably get going though. Still have to talk to mum and dad and figure out where Neville's head it at."

I said goodbye to my brothers and apparated over to Neville's flat. I hadn't the faintest idea of what I was going to say, but I figured that at least I would give him the opportunity to explain himself. I began knocking on the door before I could change my mind and slither back to my apartment. Neville opened the door to his tousled blonde hair and rounded face. "Ginny," he opened the door wider, "come in. I didn't expect you."

I didn't find much pleasant in pleasantries. I stepped into his flat and asked, "What are your intentions with me?"

Neville obviously wasn't ready for this question. He choked on a stick of cheese that he had been eating and choked, "Come again?"

"What are your plans?" I asked. I could feel my face warm up and my eyes started to water from the heat. "If you don't want to be a part of my life-"

"I never said that." Neville's voice became very strong, stronger than I had ever heard it. "I do want to be a part of your life Ginny. I just thought that if we wanted to get married that we would discuss it. All of this without my Gran budding in every minute or so telling us that we weren't doing the right thing." His eyes did not waver from mine. He stood tall and took ahold of my hands. "I've been crazy about you Ginny. For a long time I've waited. I would love nothing more than to get to spend all of my days with you. If that means taking a hex or two from each of your brothers, I'm fine with that. It might hurt, and I might scream like a little girl, but I'll do it for you."

Without a second thought, I lunged myself at Neville. Our faces and lips crashed into one another. I threw my arms around his neck and held onto him tightly. My heart pounded so hard that I hoped Neville couldn't feel how nervous I was. My lips felt electricity and I selfishly never wanted to stop.

After a while, I stopped and stepped away from Neville, who either looked embarrassed or greatly excited. He couldn't stop smiling and looked toward the floor. I took it as excitement when I realized that he held onto my hand. "That was fun. Care to do it again sometime?"

"We'll see." I teased.

Looking over to his window I saw an open wooden box. Out of curiosity I led Neville over to the box. His hand gripped tightly to mine. "Do you collect gum wrappers Neville?" I asked, looking at the container, which almost seemed to overflow.

"Sort of." He whispered, closing the box and looking back toward me. "They're gifts."

I looked toward Neville and saw the pain in his eyes. Before I could ask who gave them to him he answered, "Every time I visit my mum. I give her a piece of gum. It's almost like I'm the guy with the gum. When I return the next time with another piece of gum, she will give me the wrapper from the previous time that I came. She doesn't have much else to give me, but it's the only thing I have left."

Neville and I stood in silence as we looked at the wooden box. Trying to think of something to say, all I could muster out was, "I'm so sorry Neville."

"At least I have something," his voice broke off, "you know?"

We spent more time in the comforting silence. We held onto each other's hand and refused to let go. "Neville? Can we tell your parents?"

He spent a long time staring out the window and trying his hardest not to look at the wooden box. "They don't remember who I am Ginny."

"All the more reason to tell them first. They can be like a practice for my parents." Neville stared quietly and thought hard about what I was saying. He took deep breaths and concluded, "We should tell them."

(A/N: 7/31/13- Neville has always been one of my favorite characters from the start of the series. Christmas in the fifth book has always been a scene that I can remember well and it is the most intimate moment that we get to see of Neville. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter. Review please and thanks!)


	9. Chapter 9

It was always nerve-wracking meeting your significant other's parents for the first time. I found it even more difficult when they wouldn't know exactly who you were and likely wouldn't remember your name. I fussed over what I would wear, because even though they wouldn't likely remember me, I wanted to try. I slipped on a black and yellow dress to match the flowers that I had picked out for his mother.

Neville knocked cautiously on my bedroom door. "Are you almost ready Ginny?"

"Almost." I yelled. As much as I wanted to say that I wasn't nervous, I was close to going out of my mind.

I draped my coat around me and took a second look around the room. With a flick of my wand the clothes came off the floor and filed neatly into the closet. I opened my door to see Neville overly dressed. He had on a nice blue dress shirt and dark belted pants. "You look lovely Ginny." He beamed from ear to ear and extended his arm to me.

We walked down the streets of London. Cars whizzing by us and people chatting about what the latest gossip was with the monarchy. I had never fully appreciated how comfortable I was with Neville until now. We didn't discuss the day's news or the weather; we were completely satisfied with just being near one another.

Once we were on the street, Neville and I looked both ways and stepped into the brick building's window into St. Mungo's hospital. Luckily, since Neville was a frequent visitor, we didn't have to wait in the waiting room. The healers seemed to recognize Neville, who had a habit of having to come here since he was a child. Neville just signed both of us in at the front desk and directed my attention over to the elevator.

Once we were in the elevator I remembered clearly the last time that I had visited the ward. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and I accidentally mistook the fourth floor to be the fifth floor. We ran into Professor Lockhart, who then made us visit with him and give us his autograph. This is where we accidentally stumbled upon Neville and his disapproving Gran, who sought out to tell Neville how ashamed she was of him. As we walked through the elevator we came to double doors with a sign above it reading. "Spell Damage". Neville put his arm around my waist and trapped my arms in his grasp. He gripped onto me tighter as we walked by certain rooms and started to relax once we got near the end of the corridor. We stopped at the Janus Thickey ward. The door had been locked, so we waited for a bright faced healer to come to the door. "Mr. Longbottom!" She beamed, "How nice of you to stop over again… and who is this?"

"Ginny Weasley." I smiled, trying to conserve her enthusiasm.

"Nice to meet you." She said, leading us down the remainder of the way, "Come on back."

Neville's teal eyes did not waver from me as we passed where Gilderoy Lockhart's bed once was. His glance wasn't taken off of me until we arrived at the last two beds in the row. "Frank and Alice, you have visitors…"

Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom laid in beds parallel to one another. Both of their hair had turned a light gray. Mr. Longbottom was fast asleep, but Mrs. Longbottom sat upright in her bed. Surrounding their beds were all news articles that Alice had hung up of Neville. There were even a few pictures of Frank and Alice with various visitors. The pictures that were vacant were the pictures from Neville's childhood. There was not a single picture of Neville when he was younger or even a picture of Alice when she was expecting. Alice's face had turned gaunt and lacked expression. "Hi Alice." Neville said in a small voice, tightly clutching the Droobles Blowing Gum in his hand. "I'd like you to meet my friend Ginny." He pushed me forward a little and left me defenseless against a defenseless woman.

"Hi A-Alice," my body trembled so badly that my voice reverberated as well. "It's nice to meet you." My body turned around to look at Neville, who could only manage an encouraging smile. "Your friend Neville told me that you like flowers, so I thought that I would bring you and Frank some."

I conjured a vase from the corner cabinet and filled it with water. I placed the vase on Alice's tray table. Seemingly bewildered by the gesture, she looked from the flowers to me, and then her eyes fixated on the flowers. Her hands trembled uneasily as she tried to reach the sunflower petal. Cupping one of the flowers in her hands, she scooped it out of the vase and pulled it up to her nose. She gave an audible noise, but I couldn't tell if it was a happy or sad noise.

Turning around, I could no longer see Neville. I turned to my other side and Neville appeared to have snuck up next to me. "Alice and Frank. Ginny and I have some pretty exciting news that we'd like to share with the both of you." Alice looked up timidly from the flower in her hand. When I wasn't looking, Frank woke up and groggily sat up in bed. His face looked anorexic and dark; his eyes seemed to bulge out like a house elf's would. "Ginny and I are going to have a baby."

Alice seemed as happy as she ever could be without smiling. She made another small audible noise, but her face remained haunted. Frank looked bleary as he was waking up from his nap, so he didn't give any emotion at all. Neville drew closer to his mum and gave her the candy she had been hoping for. She looked at it and bent over to her nightstand, grabbing the wrapper from the last visit. Alice placed it gently in Neville's hand and looked at him with her big eyes.

Neville stared at the ceiling and mumbled a quiet "thanks." He turned his back to his parents and looked pleadingly asking if it was time to go.

"We have to go now, but it was really nice meeting you." I said, looking at the pair of them. Their sad eyes begged us not to go, but I knew that Neville couldn't stand to be in the room without calling them his parents. "We will visit again sometime."

Neville led the way out of the ward and stopped just before the elevator. He turned to me and pulled me in to kiss me on the forehead with tears in his eyes. "As much as that hurt, I'm glad that you made me do it."

I went in and wrapped my arms securely around him, "Those were the easy parents. Mine will be much, _much _worse." Neville let out a laugh and hugged me to the point of choking, "I think my mum likes you."

"I think she does too."

One set of grandparents knew, so it was just a matter of time before the others had to find out. "You're going to have to tell them Ginny. Whether you like it or not, mum and dad will find out. Especially when you don't start showing up for work." Ron reasoned over breakfast. He had made an annoying habit of staying over and having Hermione make him breakfast. "Doesn't publicity start in January?"

I bitterly took a bite of my toast, "I am aware Ron, but that's not for another two months. I keep on planning to tell them, but it never seems to be the right time."

"I honestly don't think they'll believe you at first," Ron chewed while talking, ignoring all societal rules. "I mean. Who would believe that Neville had it in him."

Trying my best to ignore how rude Ron was being I turned to Hermione for advice. "How do I tell my parents? I don't even know if they knew that I wasn't a virgin-"

Ron started choking uncontrollably on the eggs that had attempted to go down his throat. He pounded on his chest to relieve the tension and could finally breathe again. After a few moments to recompose himself, he howled, "Who else have you fooled around with?!"

"Not that it's any of your business." I huffed, giving him a signature Weasley glare.

"I should think that it is my business." Ron pounded his fork on the table indignantly. "The people that you screw around with could end up being my in-laws."

I seethed with fury, standing up and throwing my fists on the table. "_Well. _Unless Charlie comes out of the closet I really don't think you have to worry about _Harry Potter_ being a part of the family anymore."

Ron's face turned a light shade of green. "You're right. It's none of my business." When I turned around to head to my room I could feel Ron laying into Hermione about not telling him. My door shut tightly behind me, but not tightly enough to cover, "He's a dead man."

How was it so much easier to tell Ron that I had previously slept with his best friend than to tell my parents that I was expecting. Maybe it was easier to hurt Ron than it was my parents¸ but I hurt Harry and Ron's relationship more than I did my own. It would have probably been easier if I was already married; it would be a cause for celebration instead of disappointment. I could just see Draco Malfoy making a snide comment comparing our family to bunnies and how we can't help that we reproduce so quickly.

Whether they were ready to hear it or not I had to tell my parents and I had to tell them soon. Tonight I was going to sit my parents down and break the news, and maybe their hearts.

I arrived at the Burrow with five minutes to spare¸ so that I could stand outside and practice what I was going to say... _Mum and dad, I have a riddle. What came first, the chicken or the egg? It doesn't really matter because I'm pregnant! / Is that Pigwidgeon flying out the window? No, that's just your respect for me because I got pregnant out of wedlock. / How many tries does it take to get your daughter accidentally pregnant? Well, the Chosen One couldn't do it, so he sent in Neville Longbottom as a reinforcement. He got it on the first try!_

As hard as I tried to be funny I knew that I couldn't win them over with anything less than the truth. I was about to knock on the door when mum opened it widely in front of me. "For heaven's sake Ginny, your father and I have been watching you pace for the past ten minutes. I would've come out sooner, but your father told me to leave you." I always knew that I loved my dad for that reason.

Mum ushered me in and tried her best to warm me. "Ginny, you're freezing. Do you not have a proper jacket?"

"I have plenty of jackets mum, you know they do pay me to play Quidditch. It isn't just a fun hobby anymore." I joked with my mum. Since I had come into money I had tried to help out my parents as much as they would let me. The only way that they would ever let me pay for something was if I said, "But it's for the _family_." It got them every time.

Rushing over to dad I embraced him in a hug and said, "Staying out of trouble I presume?"

"As much as I can, but I have been conducting interviews with parents of muggle born children. You see, I'm collecting data and…" Dad's voice slowly trailed off as he caught the glare from mum. "Well, I guess that can wait for later."

"Arthur, we rarely get to see just our daughter, can't your story wait for another day?" They both agreed and they set me down for dinner. Mum had really outdone herself again and she made some of my favorite foods. I couldn't tell who was buttering up to whom. "So, Ginny, what has been new in your life?"

_Other than the fact that Neville Longbottom impregnated me… nothing much._

"Hermione and I bought a new set of pans," which was the truth; we did buy an entire new set of pots and pans, so that we could each take one when Hermione and Ron got married.

"That's nice." Mum smiled, cutting into a rather large potato. "How was your sleepover at George's?"

I stopped in the middle of taking a bite of corn. Setting my fork back on my plate I ignored the glances from my parents. How much did George tell mum and dad? Or did Ron tell them everything after what I told him today? "It was nice to catch up with him and Ron." Which also happened to be the truth.

"And Harry?" Dad chimed in inconspicuously looking at his vegetables, "was it nice to see him too?"

"Not in the conditions under which we met, no." I mumbled.

"We were all looking for you and when Harry found you he sent us a Patronus saying that you were alright, then Fred gave us a call saying you were with George." Mum hadn't even noticed the mistake that she made. Dad and I both carefully looked at her and after a minute she looked toward the ceiling, "I still get them confused." She had a laugh at herself, "I bet Fred is looking down at us right now and saying, 'Honestly, you call yourself my mother, but you can't even tell what twin I am even after I died.'"

My family's sense of humor with Fred's death was a lot more free spirited than mine was. For my mother, I managed to smile, but that was about it.

"Are you excited for the new Quidditch season to start?" Dad asked excited, "You must be anxious to hop back on your broom and fly around. There isn't much space to fly where you live." Dad always tried his hardest to stay current with my life and he always enjoyed that I grew up more of a tomboy than a girl.

"I am really anxious to get back on my broom," which was another truth, but I didn't have the heart to tell them that I would miss an entire season, maybe even more.

"How is Hermione doing with all the wedding planning? Has she settled on a date?" Mum's question took me for a bit of a loop. The last time that Hermione had even discussed the wedding with me was before she found out I was pregnant.

"As far as I know she is keeping the wedding date this winter. I will have to double check with her though to make sure." So far I had kept the entire conversation without lying to my parents. I might not have told them everything, but as Ron learned earlier, not everyone needs to know everyone else's business.

The longer that I sat with my parents the less I wanted to tell them the news. I didn't know whether they would take it as good news or bad news. As time passed so did my willingness to share what I considered good news.

"Mum, what kind of carrots are these?" I asked rather to my plate than my mother.

"They're baby carrots dear. Since the garden has gone for the winter your father and I thought that we could go to a muggle grocery store and buy some carrots. These were called 'baby carrots' considering how small they are."

"Well then my plate and I have something in common because we're both having babies." I didn't mean to say it out loud, but it just sort of flew off of my tongue. Trying to capture the words out of thin air, I cupped my mouth and muttered a curse. I refused to look up from my plate to avoid the eyes of my parents. When I did look up, I looked toward Mum. She had tears welling in her eyes and a smile on her face.

"Ginny…" was all the courage she had to say.

I didn't dare look at Dad. I knew that he still thought of me as his little girl and I had gone and ruined it for him. "Ginny, that's wonderful news!" My mum offered, she got up from the table and came over to hug me. When she did, she twirled me around and I had the unfortunate displeasure of seeing Dad's face. His hands ran through his balding hair and his face looked more than peaky. His eyes imploringly met mine; searching for any sign that it wasn't true, but my eyes had confirmed his worst fears. He put his head down toward his plate and covered his eyes with his hand.

Mum took me out of her bear hug and started asking a million questions. Most of which I didn't know the answer to. Finally she set her sights on one question, "Alright, do we know the father?"

My eyes were fixated on my father, who had still said nothing. "I think you do? His parents were in the first Order of the Pheonix."

Dad raised his head at the word 'Order'. I could tell from his worried expression that he was thinking of the wrong parents, "Frank and Alice."

Mum wracked her brain, but Dad had already come to the right conclusion. "Neville Longbottom." Were the only words my father spoke.

"Yes." I mumbled weakly. I couldn't read my father anymore. He seemed to be shocked, but as unhappy as he looked he didn't seem to be overbearingly unhappy. "He was dorm mates with Ron and came back his seventh year. We were at Hogwarts when Voldemort was on the rise. He was one of the few that stood up to the Carrows and Snape. He was the one who killed Nagini."

"He even stood up to You-Know-Who," Mum added reassuringly, looking squarely at my father, who still did not say a word to me.

"Correct." I mumbled.

Dad muttered to excuse himself and he left outside to go to the shed. Mum gave me an encouraging side hug and said, "He'll come around dear. He always does."

It wasn't like they were hearing about their first grandchild. Almost everyone who was married had at least one child. The exception being George and Angelina. "Would you like some pie or something?"

"No mum, I really should get going. Would you like me to help and stay with dishes?" She smiled, but shook her head.

"Your father can do them when he gets in. He could use a distraction."

I said my goodbyes to my mother and apparated home. Without even really acknowledging where I was, I opened the door and let myself in. Upon seeing me, Neville stood up tall and said, "Ginny, I didn't know you were… are you okay?"

"I told my parents," I said, blankly staring toward the ceiling, "My dad didn't even have the heart to look at me."

Neville came over and wrapped his arms around me, trying to comfort me the only way he knew how. "I'm sorry Ginny, but I'm sure he'll turn around."

I took my arms around his waist and mumbled into his shirt, "I'm not so sure he will… hey, why are you at my apartment anyway?"

"Uh… Ginny, you came to my apartment." Taking my face out of his shirt, I realized that he was right. I had apparated to the wrong "home".

I gave a laugh with my teary eyes, "I just apparated 'home' and this is what I came up with."

Neville gave a chuckle and smiled at me, "So what if it was?"

Looking into Neville's eyes, I could see that his offer was genuine and that it hadn't been an impulsive decision to ask me. He just found the right timing to offer it to me. "Then I would consider myself to be an extremely lucky girl."

(A/N: 8/4/13- Hey! This so far has been one of my favorite chapters to write. The hospital scene in OOTP has always stuck with me ever since I read it. The character Neville is just so endearing and that's one of the things that I love about him. So let me know what you think down below and I will be super happy :) thanks!)


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